Version 21H2 (original release) The
original version of Windows 11 (also known as
version 21H2 and codenamed
"Sun Valley") was released in October 2021. It carries the build number 10.0.22000.The first public preview build was made available to
Windows Insiders who opted in to the Dev Channel on June 28, 2021. Notable changes in this version include: • Redesigned
Fluent Design System: • Most interfaces in Windows 11 feature rounded geometry, refreshed iconography, new typography, and a refreshed colour palette. • Windows 11 also introduces "
Mica", a new opaque
Material that is tinted with the color of the desktop wallpaper. • Significantly redesigned
Start menu, adhering to the principles of the updated Fluent Design System. • Center-aligned
Taskbar, with new animations for pinning, rearranging, minimizing, and switching apps. The update has reached end of service on October 10, 2023 for Home, Pro, Pro Education and Pro for Workstations editions. The Enterprise, Enterprise multi-session, IoT Enterprise and Education editions have reached end of service on October 8, 2024.
Version 22H2 (2022 Update) The
Windows 11 2022 Update (also known as
version 22H2 and codenamed "
Sun Valley 2") is the first major update to
Windows 11. It carries the build number 10.0.22621. Five component updates were released for this version"Moment 1" with build 22621.675 on October 18, 2022, "Moment 2" with build 22621.1344 on February 28, 2023, "Moment 3" with build 22621.1778 on May 24, 2023, "Moment 4" with build 22621.2361 on September 26, 2023, and "Moment 5" with build 22621.3235 on February 29, 2024. As of build 22567, the version string has been changed from "Dev" to "22H2". The update began rolling out on September 20, 2022. Notable changes in the 2022 Update include: • Redesigned and new
Efficiency Mode feature accessible via
Task Manager • Re-added the drag and drop feature on the taskbar • Improvement to the snap layout experience • New live captions feature • New Smart App Control (SAC) feature for blocking untrusted applications • Split "Focus assist" feature into "Do not disturb" and "Focus" • Included
Clipchamp as inbox app The first component update to Windows 11, version 22H2, codenamed "Moment 1", was released on October 18, 2022, with build 22621.675 and several further changes: • New tabbed browsing feature and refreshed layout of the left navigation pane in the
File Explorer • New inline suggested actions feature • Re-introduced
taskbar overflow feature • Improvements to the built-in Windows share window • Added support of Auto Color Management (ACM) which further optimized for
OLED monitors by reading
DisplayID data • Added support of
Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) by reading
DisplayID data The second component update to Windows 11, version 22H2, codenamed "Moment 2", was released on February 28, 2023, with build 22621.1344 and several further changes: • Added
iOS support in the Phone Link app • New Studio Effects section in the Quick Settings for
NPU-compatible devices • Redesigned
Quick Assist app • Added third-party apps support in the Widgets panel • Re-introduced tablet-optimized taskbar • Added support for tabs in the Notepad app • New Braille displays and input/output languages support in Narrator • New Energy Recommendations page in the Settings app • Updated touch keyboard option in the Settings app • New
Tamil Anjal keyboard • Re-introduced the search box on the taskbar The third component update to Windows 11, version 22H2, codenamed "Moment 3", was released on May 24, 2023, with build 22621.1778 and several further changes: • New presence sensor privacy settings in the Settings app • New VPN icon on the taskbar • Added the ability to show a notification badge on the Start menu's user profile icon • Introduced live captions in more languages • Added the ability to create live kernel memory dumps in
Task Manager • Introduced Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC) to desktop computers and battery powered devices • New copy button for copying
two-factor authentication codes in notification toasts • New
USB4 hubs and devices page in the Settings app • Re-introduced the new touch keyboard option in the Settings app • New multi-app kiosk mode • Re-introduced the ability to display seconds in the system clock on the taskbar • Adds support for
Bluetooth LE Audio and the
LC3 codec The fourth component update to Windows 11, version 22H2, codenamed "Moment 4", was released on September 26, 2023, with build 22621.2361 and several further changes: • The availability of
Copilot in Windows (in preview) • New preview flyout when hovering over files under the Recommended section on the Start menu • New volume mixer experience in Quick Settings • Re-introduced the ability to never combine taskbar buttons • Added the ability to hide the time and date in the system tray • Updated notification bell icon in the system tray on the taskbar • Modernized Details pane, Home page, address bar and search box in the File Explorer • New Gallery feature in File Explorer • Added the native support of additional archive file formats (
7z,
rar,
tar) • New
Windows Backup app • New screen for restoring from backup during the
OOBE • Improvements to backup and restore experience for desktop apps • Added support of
Unicode Emoji 15.0 • Added support of
COLRv1 color format • New Narrator natural voices in Simplified Chinese, Spanish (Spain and Mexico), Japanese, English (United Kingdom and India), French, Portuguese, German and Korean • New text authoring experiences in voice access • New Home page in the Settings app • Redesigned Windows Security notification dialogs The fifth component update to Windows 11, version 22H2, codenamed "Moment 5", was released on February 29, 2024, with build 22621.3235. The update has reached end of service on October 8, 2024 for Home, Pro, Pro Education, Pro for Workstations and SE editions. The Enterprise, Enterprise multi-session, IoT Enterprise and Education editions have reached end of service on October 14, 2025.
Version 23H2 (2023 Update) The
Windows 11 2023 Update (also known as
version 23H2 and codenamed "
Sun Valley 3") is the second major update to
Windows 11. It was shipped as an enablement package for the Windows 11 2022 Update, and carries the build number 10.0.22631. Major features of Windows 11 2023 Update and system applications included: •
Windows Cortana was replaced with Windows Copilot, later rebranded as
Microsoft Copilot, an AI assistant based on the same technology stack as Bing Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot. •
Windows Backup was re-introduced with a new look and feature set for Windows 11. •
Passkey support on the OS level was implemented via the biometric
Windows Hello system. • The Start Menu, All Apps section now shows a new "System" label for system apps, which are managed via the Settings app, System category, System Components section. • Wake on Approach, Lock on Leave, and Adaptive Dimming features introduced to reduce energy use. • Paint received layer support and AI-based tools for digital creation. • Snipping Tool received AI-based tools to extract text from screenshots. • Photos received AI-based tools for subject detection to automatically add background blur to photos. • Clipchamp received an AI-based Auto Compose tool. • Chat was changed to
Microsoft Teams, which is automatically pinned to the taskbar. • Voice Access was improved to reach more places, such as login. It now also supports more complex words. • Narrator was improved to support more languages. Final minor version of Windows to unofficially support processors that don't meet the
x86-x64-v2 (i.e., having
POPCNT and
SSE4.2) or
ARMv8.1 specifications. The first preview was released to Insiders who opted in to the Beta Channel on May 25, 2023. The update began rolling out on October 31, 2023. New features and changes from "Moment 4" were enabled by default in this update. The version string was changed from "22H2" to "23H2" in build 25375. The first component update to Windows 11, version 23H2, codenamed "Moment 5", was released on February 29, 2024, with build 22631.3235 and several further changes: • Improvements to Copilot in Windows • Improvements to voice access • New voice access in French, German, and Spanish • Added multi-display support • New voice shortcuts feature • Enhanced image consumption experience in Narrator • New share targets for sharing links through the Windows share window • Updates to the Cast flyout in Quick Settings • New suggestions feature in snap layouts • Improvements to Windows 365 Boot and Windows 365 Switch • New notification for prompting to open recent photos and screenshots from Android mobile device in Snipping Tool This is the last version of Windows 11 where the DNS Cache Service is used as an optional service. This behavior was changed on version 24H2 onwards, where the DNS Cache Service is now mandatory to access the Internet thus if disabled, the system will not be able to access the internet anymore. The update has reach end of service on November 11, 2025 for Home, Pro, Pro Education, Pro for Workstations and SE editions. The Enterprise, Enterprise multi-session, IoT Enterprise and Education editions will reach end of service on November 10, 2026.
Version 24H2 (2024 Update) The
Windows 11 2024 Update (also known as
version 24H2 and codenamed
"Hudson Valley") is the third major update to
Windows 11. It carries the build number 10.0.26100. The first preview was released to Insiders who opted into the Canary and Dev Channels on February 8, 2024. The update began rolling out for
Copilot Plus PCs on June 15, 2024. As of build 26052, the version string has been changed from "23H2" to "24H2". The update began rolling out to all users on October 1, 2024. The update notably introduces the first Windows 11 based
Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) editions, along with new subscription variants of
IoT Enterprise editions (both LTSC and non-LTSC). For the first time since the release of Windows 11, version 24H2 introduces modified system requirements: • A
x86-64-v2 CPU supporting
SSE4.2 and
POPCNT CPU instructions is now required, otherwise the Windows kernel is unbootable. (Only affecting systems bypassing the requirements, along with all 24H2
IoT Enterprise editions.) • IoT Enterprise editions (LTSC and non-LTSC) have officially eliminated a TPM and
UEFI requirement, and lowers the minimum
DirectX version to 10 from 12, which was previously required on
23H2. • The new IoT Enterprise LTSC edition lowers the minimum required RAM to 2 GB, and storage space to 16 GB. •
ARMv8.1 is now required for ARM variants, dropping unofficial support for
ARMv8.0. On
ARMv8.0 CPUs, the Windows kernel is unbootable. • ARM variants drop support for 32-bit ARM applications. Only 64-bit ARM applications will run. Windows 11, version 24H2, notably, has a longer than usual list of known issues; some require updated
drivers to fix, while others have yet to be fixed as of February 2025. E.g., broken biometrics and camera support on a limited number of devices, and some older games and applications not functioning properly or not working at all; e.g.,
Asphalt 8 (resolved since March 19, 2025), Dirac audio improvement software (if cridspapo.dll is utilized), and
AutoCAD 2022. New features include: • Windows 11 HDR background support for
HDR monitors • Support for
Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), which enhances data transfer speeds, along with new user interface elements to refresh the list of Wi-Fi networks and indicate scan progress • Support for
Bluetooth LE audio The update is also the last to be available to the
SE edition, which will reach end of support alongside consumer editions. (also known as
version 25H2 and codenamed
"Hudson Valley 2") is the fourth and latest major update to
Windows 11. It is shipped as an enablement package for the Windows 11 2024 Update, and carries the build number 10.0.26200. The first preview was released to Insiders who opted in to the Dev Channel on June 27, 2025, along with the version string being changed from "24H2" to "25H2". The update began rolling out on September 30, 2025.
Version 26H1 The
Windows 11, version 26H1 is the fifth major update to
Windows 11. It was released on February 10, 2026. The first preview was released to Insiders who opted in to the Canary Channel on November 7, 2025, along with the version string being changed from "Dev" to "26H1". Version 26H1 is a platform-specific support release that only includes changes to support devices with ARM processors, with the
Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 being one of the confirmed case as of March 25, 2026. Version 26H1 also added many
AI and
NPU features. ==Insider releases==